First day jitters

photo by Leo Reynolds

What might we create for ourselves, our children, and our planet if we remembered to breathe? What if we stopped running our old stories about ourselves long enough to take just one deep breath?

As humans, our negative commentaries (I'm not good enough, no one will like me, I'm a bad parent, I'm a better parent, etc.) take us away from noticing what is real, true, and tangible.  They keep us flailing helplessly in a sea of I can'ts, I'm nots, and I shoulds that are hardly ever based in reality.  A few deep breaths - I'm talking so deep that you feel them in your pelvis - can bring you from the land of make believe right to this very moment.  While the breath may not get rid of your fears, worries, frustrations, or your neighbor's barking dog, it will bring you to this moment where you can create another possibility for yourself - a new commentary.

For example, my daughter and I both have the first day jitters.  I am feeling terrified of what you all will think of my first blog entry...the what-ifs that are coursing through my brain and body have kept me from starting this project for months.  Similarly, my daughter is so nervous to meet her new teacher and see old classmates that she is visibly pale and expressionless.

Pause. Breathe.

photo by Marco Bellucci

What changes after I breathe is that I become aware that really, I am a human being sitting at a computer and typing some words.  Really, I am none of the things I fear, and none of you have thrown virtual rotten tomatoes at me.  It's all made up.

For me, the breath in this moment reminds me that I have courage.  For my daughter, her breath brought pink back into her cheeks and allowed her to put one foot in front of the other.

Fear + breath = courage. What gift will your breath bring you?

With Courage,
Dawn